Toru Fukuhara
   Department   Kawasaki Medical School  Kawasaki Medical School, Department of Neurosurgery 2,
   Position   Professor with Special Assignment
Article types 原著
Language English
Peer review Peer reviewed
Title Selective posterior rhizotomy for painful spasticity in the lower limbs of hemiplegic patients after stroke: report of two cases
Journal Formal name:Neurosurgery.
Domestic / ForeginForegin
Volume, Issue, Page 54(5),pp.1268-1272
Author and coauthor FukuharaToru,KamataI
Authorship Lead author
Publication date 2004/05
Summary OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE:

Selective posterior rhizotomy (SPR) has been performed mainly in children with cerebral palsy. Seldom has the use of SPR been reported for reduction of spasticity after stroke. We describe two elderly patients with hemiplegia who underwent unilateral SPR for pain caused by spasticity after stroke.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION:

The first patient was a 68-year-old woman who experienced spasticity and pain in her right leg during the chronic stage of a left cerebral infarction. The second patient was an 89-year-old man who had intolerable spastic pain in his left hemiplegic leg 3 months after a right cerebral infarction.

INTERVENTION:

Both patients underwent unilateral SPR on the spastic side to reduce the pain. After surgery, the patients' pain resolved. In the first patient, the ability to perform activities of daily living also improved.

CONCLUSION:

Antispastic medications are often sufficient for treatment of post-stroke spasticity. In selected cases, however, SPR can be beneficial for improving painful spasticity